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Mage builds
This article is meant to list theorycrafted raiding builds, cookie-cutter PvP specs and other Mage standards/ideas for reference and new player guidance. For help creating your own build and personalising the ones found here, take a look at our Mage talent analysis. PvE Solo leveling/farming Leveling as a Frost Mage AoE Monster! *http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=oZfVcfoMhzbZVI0cs0uhfdg0s This spec is making it possible to do a good job in AoE levelling, and surviving also. Blazing Speed makes it possible to, if your in trouble, to make a chance to increase your Run Speed by 50%. Good AoE is needed hen you shall level fast. (Untested) (Made By: Wowwiki user: Graceland7. Wow char: Graceland. Server: Runetotem. alliance.) Frost is far and wide considered the best Mage leveling tree due to four factors: its mana-efficiency, high survivability and control, and high burst damage. A basic level 30 leveling build is as follows: Leveling Frost Your very first talent should always be Improved Frostbolt if Frost. Check the Mage talent analysis to improve upon it when leveling further. Remember to always pick up 1-point talents such as Ice Barrier and Cold Snap when available. Certain points of interest: *The Frost Mage's main spell is Frostbolt. It is your opener, your nuke, your chill. Learn to love it. Improved Frostbolt is a must-have to increase mobility when soloing. *Shatter is a necessary talent for optimal Frost leveling. Used with Frost Nova, you have a very high chance to critically strike your opponents. Fire Blasting mobs who are Frozen is a quick and mobile way to deal burst damage or finish them off. *Ice Shards increases damage done by Frost spell critical strikes, which is a good boost to Shatter's power. If you want higher raw damage while retaining Frost's control, you can always pick up Piercing Ice. *Frost Nova is your friend. Frost doesn't do as much damage as Fire and relies on keeping mobs away with chills and such tools, so talents like Arctic Reach and Ice Floes that increase their effectiveness are valuable. *Elemental Precision is not required, but it helps when soloing mobs of a higher level then yourself. It also reduces downtime slightly. *Frost Channeling improves mana-efficiency a great deal, making drinking between pulls less necessary. Leveling as a Fire Mage The Fire tree lacks the control and survivability of Frost, but has in exchange higher single-target damage and the ability to kill mobs faster one by one. It sacrifices mana-utility for higher power. A basic Fire leveling build at 30 would be the following: Fire leveling For further improvement when leveling, see the Mage talent analysis. Your very first talent should always be Improved Fireball if Fire. Fire relies on critical strikes to maximize its damage, so taking talents such as Critical Mass and Pyromaniac is useful. Burnout and Ignite increase your crit damage by a lot, so it is imperative that you fill them out when possible. Always pick up 1-point talents (Combustion, Dragon's Breath) as soon as they become available. A standard fire leveling build at 50 for pure single-target PvE would be the following: Fire Leveling at 50 5-mans and Soloing/Farming *0/0/68 +2 Frost 5-mans/Solo build **High damage on trash due to not having to Scorch, high mana-efficiency allowing for chain-pulling on instances/farming, and high survivability through tools such as Deep Freeze and Ice Barrier. AoE is very good thanks to Improved Blizzard triggering Fingers of Frost, which in turn triggers Shatter. Instance boss encounters are short, favoring the high burst Frost can deliver through cooldown stacking of Water Elemental, Icy Veins and damage trinkets. Raiding :'The builds listed here come from theorycrafting and are listed in this page. Raiding mages generally want high single target DPS and/or lots of AOE power. Depending on your gear, length of the fight, movement, trash clearing, and interruptions, there's no real "perfect" raiding build. These are the standard builds for each school and how casting works to maximize DPS. Core talents are contained in the builds, extra talent points are available in some cases. Frost *(18/0/53) Deep Frost + Focus Magic **This build consists of spamming Frostbolt at all times while using the Water Elemental on every cooldown and stacking Icy Veins with damage trinkets and raid buffs like Bloodlust/Heroism. It invests into Arcane for Focus Magic for an increase in DPS and raid utility and takes mana-efficiency talents as well. It is the most mana-efficient Frost Mage spec. Points can be removed from all talents taken after Focus Magic for customisation, but it is imperative that the talent itself be in the spec. *(0/18/53) Deep Frost + Ignite **This build has the same Frost core as the one above, but goes into Fire for Ignite and Master of Elements to streamline single-target DPS. It provides higher single-target damage, but lacks the raid utility of Focus Magic and provides less mana-efficiency overall than its Arcane alternative. Points can be removed from all talents taken after Ignite for utility such as Improved Blizzard and Ice Barrier, but Ignite itself is the core of the Fire offspec. Fire *(18/51/0 +2) Fireball build ** This tree invests into Arcane for Spell Impact and Focus Magic. Its rotation is highly interactive, consisting of spamming Fireball at all possible times, using Scorch every 30 seconds to maintain the Improved Scorch debuff and casting Pyroblast when Hot Streak happens. Mage Armor should be used, and if the player finds themselves with manageable mana Living Bomb should be kept up on the target. Two points can be put in either Burning Soul or Flame Throwing, or into Dragon's Breath and Blast Wave. If the player has need of any other talents, World in Flames is a good place to remove points from, as its DPS impact is minimal. *(0/51/18 +2) Frostfire build ** Theorycraft has shown this to be the top Fire raiding build because of the early Frost DPS talents and the powerful crit modifier it gives to Frostfire Bolt. This build is based on Frostfire Bolt, and is classified as Fire rather than Elementalist for its steep expenditure into the Fire tree, while the Frost investment is puny in comparison, making it in reality a Deep Fire build. The rotation in this tree is exactly like the one in the above Fireball build, except replacing Fireball with Frostfire Bolt and using Living Bomb at all times. Frostfire Bolt is highly mana-efficient and has been shown to compete excellently with the Fireball build above in terms of DPS. Although Frostfire Bolt normally hits for less than Fireball, it crits hit much harder due to the number of modifiers and talents which activate on a critical hit: Burnout, Ice Shards and Ignite. Arcane *(53/18/0) Arcane Barrage + Ignite + Imp. Scorch ** For optimal single-target DPS performance, alternate Arcane Barrage and Fireball. Scorch five times at the beginning of the fight and once every 5 seconds to keep up the Improved Scorch debuff. If the debuff is already present via a Fire Mage or Frost Mage (Winter's Chill), drop Improved Scorch for Master of Elements. Use Pyroblast on every Presence of Mind cooldown. PvP :''Note that PvP playstyle is a very personal matter, and these builds exist merely to exemplify and direct new or learning players at solid standard starters. Battlegrounds Fire Arena Frost *(20/0/51) Frost + TTW **An Arena standard, this Frost build has the most burst potential Frost can achieve through Deep Freeze and Brain Freeze, boosted by Torment the Weak. Improved Counterspell is also obtained, as are most utility Frost talents.When customizing this build, it is imperative that Arcane be kept at least so far as Magic Absorption, as it's a powerful defense against the unsnareable casters. *(28/0/43) Frost w/Prismatic Cloak **The 'Frismatic' build combines the survivability and utility of Frost with Prismatic Cloak and Presence of Mind.The Frost part of the build can be customized as necessary to obtain specific talents such as Permafrost. Arcane *(58/13/0) Arcane Barrage, POM/Arcane Blast spec. this spec is meant for those who have more experience with the arcane tree. you will rely more on your arcane spells, more importantly not + pyroblast but more on + arcane blast its a spec i have been using heavily for pvp. great vs. retadins. also keep in mind some people seem to not have noticed that impact is not only for fire. it works globally now. *(55/16/0)Arcane Barrage + POM + Pyroblast :* Combines the power of the 3 minute mage spec, and adds impact for a stun, and world in flames for a better crit chance. Fire See also * Mage theorycraft, for those interested in the numbers behind the builds. Category:Guides Category:Mage talents